Ryan's Theory of Happiness
by KeepCalmAndHaveATomato
Summary: ((A spinoff of letplaytheend [tumblr] For the Life Unlived fic. (Go read it now ok) and a sort of songfic to Ayano's Theory of Happiness.)) Ryan notices his foster brothers look upset. To try and cheer them up, he dresses as a superhero in a cape. They're happy now, but things start to go downhill fast. ((T for character death))


((A/N: This is basically a fanfic of the fanfic For the Life Unlived by letsplaytheend on Tumblr. I listened to the song Ayano's Theory of Happiness and put Ryan in Ayano's place and etc, and I was almost bawling. So naturally I needed to write about it to cause other people feels. Please R&R, I hope you enjoy! Oh, and this wouldn't fit into their timeline really. So I guess this is an AU of an AU ^^;))

Ryan's Theory of Happiness

One warm fall day, Ryan frowned as he saw his brothers looking upset, sitting together on the floor in the living room. Ray wasn't smiling, Michael was oddly quiet, and Gavin looked like he might cry. Sitting between Ray and Gavin, Ryan sighed. "What's wrong, you guys?" He asked.

Gavin sniffled. "We were talking about before we came here…" The 6 year old mumbled, wiping his eyes.

Michael nodded. "And… None of us likes the color of red." He looked away, pain filling his eyes. "Cause… It makes us 'member sad stuff…"

Ray just looked up at Ryan, sighing.

Ryan thought for a moment, before running off and coming back with a giant red scarf wrapped around his neck. "I like red. You know why?" He asked, smiling.

The three younger kids shook their heads.

"'Cause red it the color of superheroes!" His grin grew. "I'm Super Ryan! Go grab something red and make yourself a superhero name!"

Ray was the first one to run off, followed by Gavin and Michael. They were all smiling when they ran back out.

"I'm X-Ray!" Ray cheered, holding up some plastic roses he loved.

"I'm Mogar!" Michael growled, a mischievous grin on his face.

"Wait a second, Mogar." Ryan said. "Where's your red thing?"

"My hair!" He shouted, like it was obvious.

Ryan nodded in understanding, gesturing to Gavin.

"And I'm Vav!" He held up his Teddy, which had a red ribbon around it.

Ryan laughed happily. "Now we can be a secret superhero brigade!" He said in an excited whisper.

The other three cheered quietly, or at least tried to. It ended up being a bit loud.

For the rest of the day, they all played superheroes together.

Everything was going well for the kids in the HomeHunters household, until spring rolled around. Geoff had gone out to buy groceries, and on the way back, he was struck and killed by a reckless driver. Everyone was devastated. The brothers were teary messes the entire week after, and so was Jack. Ryan tried his hardest to brighten up everyone's moods, but it wasn't working.

When they initially heard about it, the three youngest ones began to bawl.

"P-Please make Daddy come h-home!" Ray sobbed, clinging to Ryan's shirt.

"W-Were we b-bad?" Michael whimpered through his tears.

Gavin nodded, continuously wiping his eyes in Jack's shaking arms. "W-We didn't mean t-to be bad, j-just make him come home!" He cried.

Ryan had begun to cry now. "I-I wish I could, guys. N-None of us were bad. I-It was a s-stupid accident…" He assured them.

At the funeral, it was awful to see them all dressed up in little suits alongside Ryan and Jack. Ray kept trying to smile at people, but it would break in the middle. Michael was talking to Gavin quietly the whole time, but the British child didn't say a word at all. When they got home later, Ryan put them all to bed while Jack took care of important things for HH. Ryan listened to him sob over the phone, going to his own room after being unable to take it any longer. Just when things were finally better, they had to fall apart again. Ryan sighed as he felt helplessness wash over him, and he fell asleep finally.

-  
IT had been almost a month since Geoff had died, and nothing was back to normal. Gavin had reverted to silence again, Michael would either only whisper or have violent temper tantrums- there was no in between, and Ray had smiled once since Geoff was gone. To Ryan, it was obvious that Jack was struggling emotionally and especially financially to keeping the HomeHunter kids together. The day Ryan knew what he had to do was when he stumbled across a file Jack left on the kitchen counter. His eyes widened as he read the file, tearing up.

One kid was going to have to be put back into a foster home because of expenses and sponsor loss.

Someone was going to have to be put back in that nightmare.

Ryan took a big breath as he wrote the note, leaving it on the kitchen counter on top of the closed file. He had given Jack specific instructions on what to tell the kids when he wasn't there in the morning. He picked up his backpack and left, his heart breaking as he left the one place he could ever really consider home; as he left the people he could really consider to be his family. He wasn't regretting his decision though. He had saved his little brother's futures.

And he'd do anything to accomplish that, even if they hated him for it.

_10 years later_

Michael nudged Gavin. "C'mon Gav." He tried, looking the other teen in the eye. "You can't do this every year… You can't go silent for this long."

Gavin shrugged, as if to say 'Watch me'.

Ray sighed. "Vav, we all miss Ryan and Dad. But at least they caught the dude that hit dad." They didn't talk about Ryan. It hurt too much to know he left on purpose, even if it was for a good reason. He squeezed Gavin's shoulder lightly. "We miss your voice."

Gavin picked up his phone, typing up a note. "If I wanna go silent for a month, I will."

Michael growled. "But you _don't_ want to! You said so yourself! You said it just happens!"

Gavin didn't look either of them in the eye, feeling grateful as Jack walked in.

"Stop harassing Gavin, and let's go." He said tiredly, nodding to the door. He was usually much better now, but when this time of the year rolled around, no one was happy. They usually spent their spring breaks in sadness, while most other kids their age were out partying. They all shuffled out to the car and they were all silent as they drove to the cemetery. They all went to Geoff's grave, Michael and Ray huddling close to Gavin as they just stood there, a few tears being shed. They never knew what to say- no one ever knew if there was anything _to _say. But visiting the grave made them feel a mix of emotions and they kept coming every year. They walked a bit further to a second grave with Ryan's name on it, Gavin making a choked noise as Ray sniffled. Jack let out a shaky sigh and pulled his boys close, not caring that they were 16 now. The pain was still fresh in everyone's minds.

_Jack couldn't believe it at first when he read the note, but he especially couldn't believe it now. He didn't want to acknowledge that his oldest son was lying lifeless in front of him. It had only been a week since he ran off- why did this kid have such bad luck? Why did they all have shitty luck like this? He wondered, his brain finally letting him cry as he took in the full impact. His Ryan was dead, along with Geoff. It wasn't fair to him, and it especially wasn't fair to Ray, Michael and Gavin. They were only kids, but they had gone through so much more than they deserved. So much more death than what was needed or normal. Usually a kid has their grandparents die… not their parents, foster brother and foster father as well. These kids deserved so much better, but nothing seemed to make it better. Jack would keep trying though. He would never give up on these kids, even if they gave up on themselves._

_Telling the kids was the worst. There wasn't a lot of screaming or yelling, just the most heartbreakingly quiet sobs he had ever heard as they all held each other close. They were used to this; Jack realized, horrified. Death was not a surprise or unexpected. Later that night, Ray asked him if he knew who would die next so he could spend lots of time with them. Jack then proceeded to reassure him that no one else was going to die. He wished that things would be better for them, he just wanted a bit of light for these boys. That's all he wanted._

They eventually went back to their house, felling drained and awful. They just went to their rooms without dinner, and coped in their different ways alone.

Ray decided to draw roses, which always calmed him for some reason.

Michael yelled at video games, and no one minded as long as he didn't break anything.

Gavin spent hours working on building a city in minecraft.

Jack looked at old pictures, having a few beers as well.

They all missed Ryan and Geoff, but they all would pull through

They felt that they owed it to the two.

-End-

((WELP. Anyway, I have an alternate ending, so just tell me in a review if you guys want me to add it in. I might make an epilogue if enough people want it, as well. Thank you for reading!))


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